How to transfer videos from PC to iPhone [Ultimate Guide]
If you're looking for ways to transfer videos from a PC to an iPhone, whether you have iTunes installed or not, this ultimate guide will give you the answers you need.
Aileena Ivy Updated on May 11, 2023 9:51 AM
Transferring videos from PC to iPhone is a common task that many people need to perform for various reasons, such as sharing home videos or transferring movies for offline viewing.
As Apple's official media management software, iTunes allows users to sync video and other media files between PC and iPhone, enabling video transfer from your PC to iPhone. But if you want to get rid of the lag of iTunes, you can choose other more flexible alternatives to transfer video files from a PC to your iPhone without iTunes.
You can transfer videos from computer to iPhone with or without iTunes.
This guide will cover the various ways on how to transfer videos from PC to iPhone, making it easy for anyone to send videos from their PC to their iPhone and enjoy their favorite content on the go.
Unlike iTunes, iPhone Data Transfer, an all-in-one file transfer tool between devices, enables you to transfer a large number of videos from PC to your iPhone without replacing original files. It can seamlessly transfer videos and photos from computer to iPhone and vice versa.
Table of Contents
How to transfer videos from your PC to iPhone with iTunes
iTunes is a media player developed by Apple that lets you manage and transfer media files, including videos, between PC and iPhone. There are two ways to transfer videos from Windows PC to iPhone with iTunes, but for either method, you need to install the latest version of iTunes.
Sync videos and photos from PC to iPhone with iTunes
Note:
- To use this method, you need to turn off iCloud Photos. Navigate to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos, and then disable Sync this iPhone or iCloud Photos.
1. Check whether iTunes is updated to the latest version. If not, update iTunes first.
2. Connect your iPhone to your PC using a USB cable. Make sure your iPhone is unlocked and enter the passcode to trust the computer.
3. Open iTunes on your PC and click on the "iPhone" icon in the upper left of the iTunes window.
4. Tick the "Sync Photos" and choose a destination folder. In "Copy Photos From", browse to and select the folder that contains the videos and photos you want to transfer to iPhone, then check "All Folders" or "Selected folders", and then "Include Videos."
5. Click "Apply" at the bottom right to start syncing photos and videos from PC to your iPhone.
This process may take a few minutes depending on the size of the file and the speed of your computer. When the transfer is complete, you can disconnect your iPhone from the PC and view your transferred videos and photos on the Photos app.
If you want to go the opposite way and have a laptop, how to transfer video from iPhone to laptop is what you need.
Transfer videos from your computer to iPhone using File Sharing
Here's how to transfer videos from a PC to an iPhone with iTunes File Sharing. But in addition to requiring the up-to-date iTunes, your iPhone needs to be running the latest iOS and have an app that works with File Sharing.
1. Plug your unlocked iPhone to your PC with USB charging cable.
2. Run the newest version of iTunes on your computer.
3. Click on the "Devices" icon in top left corner.
4. Select "File Sharing" option in the left sidebar.
5. Pick the app on your iPhone that you prefer to transfer the video to from the Apps list.
Tip: If you don't see any available apps in the Apps list, your device does not have apps for file sharing.
6. Click on the "Add File" button and select the video files you want to add from your computer.
7. Hit "Sync" in the lower right to start transferring videos from your PC to your iPhone.
8. Once the transfer is complete, open the app on your iPhone that you transferred the video to. The video should now be available in the app and ready to play.
Further reading: How to transfer music to iPhone without iTunes
How to transfer videos from PC to iPhone without iTunes
One of the most likely adverse effects of adding video clips from PC to iPhone using iTunes' sync feature is that your iPhone's original videos and photos will be erased, that is, your originally existing videos will be overwritten by the synced ones.
To avoid your beloved videos from being deleted, you can take help of other more flexible and convenient methods to transfer videos to iPhone from your PC without needing iTunes.
iPhone Data Transfer - File Transfer Software
Transferring videos from PC to iPhone without using iTunes, iPhone Data Transfer is our top choice. It can quickly transfer large video files from PC to the iPhone without losing quality, including movies, TV shows, music videos, home videos and so on. It not only supports transferring many video formats, such as MOV, MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, FLV, M4V, WebM, etc., but also converts incompatible formats to video files that can be played on your iPhone.
With an intuitive wizard-like interface, iPhone Data Transfer makes it easy to transfer various media files such as videos, photos, music, broadcast and ringtones, etc. seamlessly in both directions between iPhone and computer.
Key features:
- Safe and high-speed, no loss of iPhone files
- Support transferring large batch of video files or large video files without quality compression
- Built-in file conversion tool makes videos compatible with devices
- Ability to transfer and manage files between computer and iOS or between iOS devices
- Support one-click backup
Here's how to transfer videos from computer to iPhone with iPhone Data Transfer
Step 1. Launch iPhone Data Transfer
After downloading and installing the program, run it on your PC. And connect your iPhone to your computer using the correct data cable.
Step 2. Select Videos option
Locate and select the "Videos" tab in the left sidebar, you will see that the videos on your iPhone are categorized into Movies, Home Videos, TV Shows, Music Videos, Podcasts, and iTunes U.
Step 3. Add videos to iPhone
Click the "Plus" icon on the top left, and select the video you want to add from computer to iPhone in the pop-up window. You can press the "Ctrl" key to select multiple videos, and then click "Open" to start exporting videos to iPhone.
You can clearly see the progress of the transfer in the pop-up window. Once the transfer is successful, you can enjoy the videos on your iPhone.
Tip: If you want to enjoy watching interesting YouTube videos in your spare time, you can record YouTube videos on your Windows PC with Appgeeker Screen Recorder and then use iPhone Data Transfer to move them to your iPhone for you to watch them offline anytime.
iCloud - Apple Built-in Service
Another way to transfer computer videos to iPhone without iTunes is to take advantage of iCloud service provided by Apple. And iCloud Drive, as a component of iCloud service, allows you to store files in the cloud and share and sync them among different devices. By uploading PC videos to iCloud, and then downloading the videos uploaded to iCloud from iPhone's Files app, you are able to send videos from your PC to iPhone wirelessly.
Follow the steps to learn how to transfer videos from PC to your iPhone using iCloud:
1. Open the iCloud.com website on your PC browser.
2. Sign in with the same Apple credentials as your iPhone.
3. Select "Drive" (a cloud icon) from the component section in the upper right.
4. Click on the "Browse" tab in the left sidebar.
5. Choose the "Upload" button in the top left corner of the iCloud Drive page
6. Select the video you want and hit "Open" to upload it to the cloud for saving.
7. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
8. In the Files app, tap the "iCloud Drive" option and you can see the video you just uploaded.
9. Tap the video and wait for it to download to your iPhone to watch.
Note:
- Make sure you use the same Apple ID to log into iCloud and your iPhone, otherwise, the uploaded videos won't sync.
- iCloud only provides 5GB free space, check there is enough available space to upload videos to avert transfer failure.
Also see: How to restore photos from iCloud backup
VLC - Video Playback & Sharing App
Actually, not only can VLC be used as a video player on your computer, but it also has the capability to send videos from your PC to your iOS device for playback. However, for this to work, VLC media player must be installed on your iPhone, and your iPhone and PC should be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
1. Open VLC on your iPhone, tap "Network" option at the bottom and enable "Sharing via WiFi" option. Then you should remember the IP address displayed.
2. Enter the IP address in your PC's browser and jump to the Sharing via Wi-Fi page.
3. Click the "plus" icon in the upper right corner of the page to add your PC's videos to your iPhone. Or you can drag videos to the Drop Files window.
4. The successfully transferred videos will appear in the Video section of your iPhone's VLC player.
Dropbox – Cloud-based Service
1. Download and install the Dropbox app on your iPhone if you haven't already.
2. Go to the official Dropbox website and sign into Dropbox account on your computer.
3. Click Upload > Files / Folder and choose the video clips from computer to upload to iPhone.
4. Open the Dropbox app on your iPhone and sign into it.
5. Locate the video file in Dropbox and tap on it to start downloading it to your iPhone.
Dropbox, like iCloud, has limited free space, and the free space provided by Dropbox is only 2GB. In addition to Dropbox, you can also use other cloud storage services such as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive to transfer photos and videos from your PC to your iPhone.
Will the video quality be lost when sending video from computer to iPhone?
When moving videos from PC to iPhone, the format and resolution of the video or the transfer method may affect the video quality. Especially when transferring large video files, cloud storage services may re-encode the uploaded videos for the sake of saving space or transmission speed, resulting in video quality compression.
To minimize the loss of video quality when transferring from your PC to your iPhone, it is recommended to use a video format and resolution compatible with iPhone and transfer files using a wired connection. But if you are looking to resolve this trouble and transfer large video files from computer to your iPhone with original quality, Appgeeker iPhone Data Transfer is the best helper for you.
